Team Free Will and the Color Eater
by Catrowline
Summary: Team Free Will is looking for a way to bring John back to the present without changing the past, the present, or the future. According to the spell they found, they need the heart of a Color Comedenti, or Color Eater. For this, they must find the Families protecting the colors. Will they be too late? Will the Color Eater complete his duty, or will John come back permanently?


Maybe it was the way she stuck out her tongue as she tried to take the perfect picture or the way her eyes crinkled when the picture came out of her little Polaroid machine, but Jack was incredibly attracted to the girl in the park, her long brown hair falling down her back, and some onto her shoulders, flowing into her face.

Sam and Dean were off somewhere on a job, while Castiel and Jack were supposed to stay back at the bunker, but Jack had been getting restless and had asked Castiel if he could take a car to the nearby town to go out for a walk.

Which had brought him to the local park, and from there, Jack had ended up staring at the girl from where he was sitting on one of the swings.

A flash blinded him suddenly, and he leaped to his feet, ready to summon his powers, even if it would result in eating away at his soul.

But it was only the girl with her camera, staring back at him, agitating the small white photo, walking towards him. She quietly handed him the photo, smiling gently.

Jack opened his mouth, but no words came out, so he just took the picture, smiling back.

As the image developed, Jack watched as his own face blossomed on the paper. He was staring straight at the camera without seeing it, and – this struck him – his eyes were gold. Perhaps it was an effect of the flash, or something else, Jack had no idea, but for some reason, it made him feel strangely powerful.

When Jack looked up again, the girl was gone, and the only proof of her ever being there was the small photo Jack held in his hand.

He didn't let go of the picture until he got back to the bunker – not during the walk back to the car, not during the ride back home, not when he parked the car in the bunker's garage, not when he walked up the stairs in a daze, not when he opened the door to his room, only to be stopped by Castiel.

"What do you have in your hand, Jack?" said Castiel good-naturedly, a small smile playing on his face. Jack didn't know how to answer – a _photo _seemed too simple, and _the proof of my powers always being on the verge of reappearing _seemed too complicated – so he simply handed Castiel the image.

Castiel took it, flipping it to take in the picture, at first glance care-free and simple, and then at a second glance rather unnerving once you noticed Jack's eyes.

"You used your powers today?" said Castiel slowly, staring holes into the photo. Jack tugged it out of his father's hold, shaking his head.

"No. Of course not. But I think that my eyes turn gold on film, Castiel. At least, when the pictures are developed."

He knew all of the more scientific terms for photography thanks to Sam, who, before he'd come back to the hunting life, had appreciated going into the wilderness and take pictures off the beaten path, and when Jack had witnessed him going through his old photos, had asked him about it, and ended up getting a free photography class. He'd thoroughly enjoyed it, especially once he noticed how Sam's eyes lit up when he spoke about light and shadow, the eternal dichotomy of the world, good and bad, etcetera.

Jack hadn't quite understood the word _dichotomy, _but he assumed it was something that described the distinction between good and bad.

"Good. But I think we should be careful with having your picture taken – someone could think that you are something else than a human."

"You mean like a shape-shifter?" asked Jack, tilting his head like he'd seen Castiel do so many times.

"Precisely. You know how their eyes go with on recordings – someone could think that you are like them and try to harm you."

By to harm, Jack knew Castiel meant to kill.

"I'll be careful." And he would unless he saw Camera Girl again.

In which case he'd ask her to take his photo again – just to see if his eyes went golden again, and to speak to her for the first time – and hopefully not for the last time.


End file.
